Simmons Says: Storen gives Gibbons plenty of options

Toronto Blue Jays manager John Gibbons watches during batting practice before Game 4 of baseball's American League Championship Series against the Kansas City Royals in Toronto on Oct. 20, 2015. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

But it does provide manager John Gibbons with more pitching options than the Jays had prior to Friday’s trade with Washington.

Storen is a proven relief pitcher — either as a closer or a set-up man. His 94 mph slider is his primary out pitch and he has been historically sharp while working the late innings.

That’s why the Jays coveted him — and were willing to part with Ben Revere in exchange. Even as Storen enters his last season under contract.

But what’s interesting is the Jays are not appointing Storen the closer, nor are they saying he won’t close. They’re going to let Gibbons decide.

It was Gibbons who moved from Brett Cecil to Miguel Castro, back to Cecil and eventually to Osuna as Jays closer last season.

Storen might set up Osuna in the bullpen or the opposite may occur. And Aaron Sanchez might be part of a very deep bullpen with Cecil, Storen and Osuna, or he may be part of the starting rotation.

The new Jays management team like the options they have now with Storen in their bullpen. If they need Sanchez in the starting rotation, he will start. But if Drew Hutchison rebounds in any way, if Jesse Chavez works out, if the Jays are injury-free, Sanchez may return to the ’pen and give Toronto one of the deepest bullpens in baseball.

The Jays still view Sanchez as a starting pitcher down the road, the question remains: When is down the road?

And while Storen was problematic in Washington after the team acquired Jonathan Papelbon to close, they don’t expect the same in Toronto whether he closes or not for the Jays.

Last season, Cecil had the highest swing-and-miss rate of any reliever throwing curve balls in baseball. You add him to Storen, Osuna and Sanchez and it’s not exactly the Yankees bullpen, but it’s not that far behind either.

THIS AND THAT

At least two NHL teams have called the Maple Leafs to inquire about defenceman Roman Polak and found the asking price way too high. With less than two months to the trade deadline, NHL voices say GM Lou Lamoriello has priced his players very high at this point in time. Expect that price to come down closer to the end of February. Polak is the perfect kind of playoff addition contending teams are looking for ... Leo Komarov an all-star. Sidney Crosby not. How much would a prop bet like that have paid on gambling website Bodog? ... Mike Babcock is finding out what previous Leafs coaches discovered about James Reimer: He won’t play hurt and he can’t play hurt ... An NHL scout predicted before the World Junior event that Jake Virtanen would mess up Team Canada no matter what line he plays on and his prediction unfortunately came true ... Luke Schenn has played for an unstructured Maple Leaf team and a less structured Philadelphia Flyers team and his game diminished over time. Los Angeles is betting that the tightly structured Kings will calm Schenn down and bring out the best in him. Even though he was drafted three spots after Drew Doughty, there is no expectation for Schenn to play beyond the third pairing on defence ... For years, teams tried to hire Jim Nill in Detroit, but he didn’t want to leave until his kids finished school and his wife’s health was more stable. Now you’re seeing why so many tried to get him. Nill just signed a well-deserved five-year extension to stay with the impressive first-place Dallas Stars.

HEAR AND THERE

Michael Saunders is pencilled in to start in left field for the Jays now that Revere has been traded to Washington. The book on him is that he’s a comparable defensive left fielder to Revere with a better arm. What the Jays don’t have now: A leadoff man. They will miss Revere at the top of the order ... If and when Devon Travis is ready to play, expect him to bat leadoff. Until then it may end up being the reluctant Troy Tulowitzki ... Under new management, the Jays thinking on Dalton Pompey: They want him in the big leagues ready to start, his doing, rather than have him on the bench. If he doesn’t win a starting outfield job, expect him back in the minor leagues learning his trade ... Sometimes I’m completely wrong on a player: I thought Duron Carter would leave the Montreal Alouettes and go directly to being a productive NFL receiver. Carter was let go after a season on Indianapolis’ practice roster and now is free to sign anywhere ... If Chad Owens wants to re-sign with the Argos — and talks with his agent are under way — expect him to have to take a pay cut to do so ... Unsigned Argos quarterback Trevor Harris, now a free agent, was hoping to get a CFL starting post (that hasn’t happened yet) and is currently working out for NFL teams ... Did you see that all these years later, Tom Cousineau is being inducted in the College Football Hall of Fame.

SCENE AND HEARD

Roberto Luongo is sneaking into the conversation for both the Vezina and Hart Trophies. The first half seemed almost all Braden Holtby for the Vezina as top goaltender. And the first-half MVP is somewhere between Patrick Kane and Jamie Benn. But with the first-place Panthers as hockey’s hottest team, Luongo has to be considered for both awards ... I see the Norris Trophy right now as a two-man race between Doughty and Erik Karlsson ... Some are now calling Blackhawks rookie sensation Artemi Panarin, The Breadman. And to date, he delivers. I figured a young guy would score for Chicago, but I thought it would be Teuvo Teravainen ... When I think Los Angeles Rams, I think Roman Gabriel, Deacon Jones, Merlin Olsen, Eric Dickerson, Dieter Brock even. I don’t think Jeff Fisher, Nick Foles, Todd Gurley, Tavon Austin ... Horrible to lose a football team the way St. Louis is losing the Rams. Even worse when the owner, the Walmart family’s Stan Kroenke (also owner of the Colorado Avalanche), doesn’t exactly need the money ... The Antonio Brown numbers from this season are nothing short of astounding in Pittsburgh: He had games with 10, 11, 13, 16 and 17 catches. And he had 187-, 189- and 195-yard games, topping out at a mind-boggling 284.

AND ANOTHER THING

There’ll be nothing wrong with Mike Richards with the Washington Capitals so long as they can play their home games in slush ... NBA teams with more wins than the Raptors: Golden State, San Antonio, Oklahoma City, Cleveland. With all their injuries, that’s impressive ... This trip to London couldn’t have come at a worse time for the Raps. They need some rest and some practice, not an overseas journey ... Still no contract for Yoenis Cespedes, but wouldn’t be surprised if he ends up in Baltimore, where the Orioles have missed out on just about everything this off-season. And still figures Chris Davis ends up there, as well ... Russell Wilson’s first half: Nine touchdown passes, six interceptions; His second half: 25 TD passes thrown, two interceptions ... Love the story of Adam Gase, the new head coach of the Miami Dolphins. Wasn’t a football player. Didn’t play in college. Worked as a volunteer graduate assistant for Nick Saban at LSU. Then recruited for Saban. Then got a scouting job in Detroit. Then a low-end coaching job. And five teams and 16 years later, he’s a head coach in the NFL. Here’s hoping he does great ... Happy birthday to Frank Mahovlich (78), Willie McCovey (78), George Foreman (67), Ronnie Hawkins (81), Abdullah the Butcher (75), Bruce Boudreau (61) and Larry Cain (53) ... And hey, whatever became of Kevin Constantine?

WAS HIRING DEPODESTA THE SMART MOVE?

Some of the brightest and most successful businessmen in North America happen to own professional sporting franchises and one thing has become certain over time: There is no historical correlation between intelligence, business success and sporting acumen.

Some giants of the business world have been huge flops as owners and some hugely wealthy individuals and corporations have not necessarily translated their business enormity into winning on the ice, the court or the field.

Which, in a roundabout way, brings us to Paul DePodesta, the brilliant Moneyball mind, one of the brightest people in baseball, who has been hired to run the Cleveland Browns: A baseball guy now in charge of an NFL franchise. And the question is, just because DePodesta is intelligent, does that make him someone who can run a football team?

Because it’s Cleveland and because it’s the Browns, the first inclination is to giggle at the DePodesta hiring.

He was a general manager once in the big leagues, in Los Angeles, and that didn’t go long or end well. And now he takes over the most embarrassing of all NFL teams.

Say this for DePodesta, he can’t possibly do worse than his predecessors.

Intelligence, for the most part, is on trial here and when he has intelligence and the Cleveland Browns ever been used in the same sentence before?

HOW CAN YOU NOT VOTE FOR GRIFFEY?

I stared at my Baseball Hall of Fame ballot for a long time and thought about doing the unusual: I thought about voting for Ken Griffey Jr. and no one else.

A one-man ballot as a statement of the player’s greatness in a year in which many voters had trouble getting down to the ten votes that are allowed.

I thought Griffey was such a strong and obvious candidate — the one candidate without debate — that his vote, in some way, was worth more. In the end, I didn’t vote that way, using nine of the spots on the ballot and leaving off the loss-of-integrity candidates: Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire.

So how did three voters leave Griffey off their ballots, which in their own way diminishes the entire process and all those who fortunate enough to have a vote? I could see voting for him and no one else. I can’t see nor can I can understand how or why this happened.

To date, none of the three voters have been identified. When and if that happens, they should at least explain why. If you have the strength (or stupidity) to not vote for Griffey, you should have the strength to identify yourself and explain why.

This is one of those cases where everyone needs to know why this happened, and more importantly, how this happened.

THE PRESSURE’S ON YZERMAN

When he walked off the stage at the conclusion of the gold-medal game of the Sochi Olympics, Steve Yzerman turned to a small group of reporters and said: “I’m done.”

You could see in his face that the internal pressures of being general manager for Team Canada at the Olympic Games had taken its toll on him. He hardly celebrated the gold-medal victory. It was, after the Martin St. Louis controversy and more internal strife, more relief than anything else. You have to wonder now: What exactly is Yzerman thinking in Tampa?

There has been no conclusion to the Steven Stamkos situation and control is more with Stamkos than it is with Tampa GM Yzerman.

The Jonathan Drouin situation is a bit of a mess. Drouin’s agent has asked for a trade and the Lightning have sent their early draft pick to the American Hockey League to try and advance his game. This was a problem in the Stanley Cup final in June and it remains a problem now.

And the Lightning, some people’s pick to win the Cup, are still not certain to be in the playoffs at all in April.

If winning got the best of Yzerman in Sochi, how is he handling all this?